Shipping and logistics company Shipping.dk based in Fredericia, DK, acquires Maersk Broker Agency as of 9 January 2015. With the acquisition, Shipping.dk expands its position as a significant player in Scandinavia within agency and stevedoring.

The acquisition of Maersk Broker Agency strengthens Shipping.dk’s position in the whole of Scandinavia and supports the company’s plans of increased growth and specialisation within the core business. Maersk Broker Agency was founded by A.P. Møller in 1915 as an independent Danish ship agency based in Copenhagen. Like Shipping.dk the company thus has deep roots in maritime Denmark, and counts agency and stevedoring among its primary areas of business.

”We are incredibly pleased that the acquisition of Maersk Broker Agency is now in place. Shipping.dk is developing really positively, and with the acquisition we strengthen and expand our activities and platforms in all of Scandinavia and at the same time bring very experienced and qualified employees on board,” says Søren Gran Hansen, Managing Director of Shipping.dk.

Shipping.dk conducts stevedoring operations and warehouse leasing, ship clearance, chartering, liner services and freight forwarding. The company is part of the USTC Group whose areas of business, among other things, include trading of fuel for the shipping industry, and a ship owning company.

Chairman of the Board in Shipping.dk and owner of the USTC Group, Torben Østergaard-Nielsen, is likewise pleased that the acquisition of Maersk Broker Agency has now become a reality.

”I definitely feel that the two companies are a really good strategic match in every way. I have never had a doubt that Maersk Broker Agency acts as a guarantor for the same attitudes and values, on which the USTC Group’s culture is built, and thus I am completely confident that the merger will be to the benefit of both parties and create increased business opportunities.”

Throughout the past few years, Maersk Broker Agency has established offices in the largest ports of Scandinavia, and with 10 offices in Denmark, Sweden and Norway the company has created a strong network. Following the acquisition, the new complete unit consists of 170 employees.

”With increased focus on efficiency and volume, the shipping and logistics industry is in a consolidation phase these years. The acquisition of Maersk Broker Agency provides Shipping.dk with a solid foundation for further development of the most significant business areas such as, among other things, agency, stevedoring and cruise services,” says Søren Gran Hansen.

At Maersk Broker, the sale of the agency activities to Shipping.dk is very pleasing. “We are of firm conviction that Shipping.dk is the right owner for further development of Maersk Broker Agency in an industry characterised by tough competition, and where both volume and efficiency are important parameters. It was crucial to find the right future home for the activities and not least for our loyal and skilled employees. Therefore, it will be interesting to observe how, between them, the two units can grow,” says Anders Hald, CEO, Maersk Broker.